The present invention is generally related to the field of equipment connection. More particularly, the present invention is related to increasing connector density in equipment.
In the highly competitive area of electronic equipment, there is ever present pressure to provide more equipment in a smaller space. The problem is compounded by the high cost of electronic equipment and the associated reluctance on the part of the equipment owner to frequently replace this expensive equipment. When equipment changes are unavoidable, the cost of such changes can be greatly reduced if the cables and connectors used with the existing equipment can be reused. However, the physical size of connectors is often a limiting factor in condensing more equipment into a limited space.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are a front view and a top view, respectively, of an example of equipment in the related art. The example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a piece of computer network equipment having a frame 105 connected to a backpanel 110. Network cards 130 are removably attached to the backpanel 110 and cables 140 are removably attached to backpanel 110 by connectors 120. Cables 140 lead to various other pieces of equipment on the network.
In accordance with the present invention, the above problems are solved by increasing the density of cable connectors attachable to a piece of equipment of a given size. Increasing the number of cable connectors attachable to a piece of equipment of a given size, while maintaining the size of the connectors, increases the capacity of the equipment without increasing the space required by the equipment or requiring expensive and time consuming recabling.
In accordance with the present invention, cable connector density is increased by providing a non-planar cable card to which the cable connectors are attached. A non-planar cable card having, for example, a zig-zag profile provides more surface area than a planar cable card having the same length and width. The increased surface area of the non-planar cable card provides more area for the placement of cable connectors. Therefore, for a given cable connector size, a non-planar cable card can accommodate more connectors than a planar cable card having the same length and width.
The invention permits a new cable card to be fabricated to fit existing equipment and provide an increased number of cable connectors of the same size as the existing equipment. As a result, the connectors on the existing cables need not be changed, avoiding expensive cable modifications and testing.